Trucking cost per mile calculator for owner-operators

Truck cost per mile: fixed and variable

Every truck has two kinds of cost, and the calculator treats them differently:

• Fixed costs arrive every month whether the wheels turn or not: truck and trailer payments, insurance, plates, permits, your ELD and phone. The calculator divides them by your monthly miles, so they shrink per mile as you drive more.
• Variable costs rise with every mile: fuel, maintenance, tires, tolls and pay by the mile. Fuel per mile is the diesel price divided by your miles per gallon.

Cost per mile = fixed monthly costs ÷ monthly miles + variable costs per mile. Count all your miles, loaded and empty, because the truck pays for both.

Worked example EXAMPLE

An owner-operator pays $2,500 a month on the truck, $800 on the trailer and $1,200 for insurance, plus $500 in permits and other fixed costs: $5,000 a month. Running 10,000 miles, that is $0.50 a mile. Diesel at $4.00 and 6.5 mpg adds about $0.62. Maintenance, tires and tolls add $0.25, and paying themselves $0.60 a mile brings the total to about $1.97.

Now the same truck runs 7,000 miles in a slow month. The fixed costs don't change, so they climb to about $0.71 a mile, and the total moves past $2.18. Nothing got more expensive; the truck just sat more. That is why miles matter as much as rates.

Cost per mile calculator trucking inputs, explained

• Insurance: use the monthly total for every policy, liability, cargo and physical damage. Car haulers, tankers and hazmat carriers usually pay more here.
• Permits and plates: take yearly costs such as IRP plates, the heavy vehicle use tax and UCR, and divide by 12.
• Maintenance: your past year's repair bills divided by the miles you ran is the honest number. A new truck needs less; an older one needs a reserve.
• Miles per month: use real miles from your logs or fuel reports, not hoped-for miles.

What a big repair does to your number

Most cost per mile figures quietly assume nothing big breaks this year. One engine, transmission or aftertreatment failure can cost more than several months of margin, and the truck earns nothing while it is in the shop. Carriers handle that risk with a repair reserve set aside every mile, a warranty plan, or both. If you set a reserve, add it to maintenance so your number includes it.

Using your truck cost per mile calculator result

Your cost per mile is the floor for every load. Compare it with what a load pays on all its miles, loaded and empty; the rate per mile calculator does that in one step. Plan fuel for a specific trip with the trip fuel cost calculator.

Market rates move week to week by equipment and region. Your own cost doesn't, and knowing it keeps you from hauling cheap freight in a soft week just to keep the truck rolling.

How cost per mile differs by rig

The same calculator works for every truck we dispatch, but the inputs that dominate change with the rig:

• 26 ft box trucks burn less fuel and carry smaller notes, but run fewer miles and earn less per load, so fixed costs per mile can still bite.
• Car haulers carry heavy trailer payments and high cargo coverage, which push fixed costs up.
• Reefers add fuel for the unit and its own maintenance on top of the tractor.
• Tankers and hazmat carriers pay more for insurance, tank tests and permits.
• Heavy haul and lowboys run fewer, slower miles with permits and escorts on many loads.
• Dump trucks often work by the hour, so divide your monthly costs by working hours as well as miles.

Run your own numbers rather than borrowing another carrier's. Two trucks on the same lane can have costs a long way apart.

Ways to lower your cost per mile

• Run more paid miles. Fixed costs spread thinner over every extra mile.
• Cut empty miles. Plan the next load before this one delivers.
• Watch your speed. Fuel economy usually drops as speed climbs.
• Keep up preventive maintenance. A scheduled repair costs less than a breakdown on the road.

When you dispatch with us, your cost per mile sits on your rig card. We don't pitch you offers that fall below it, and you approve every load. See our dispatch for owner-operators or send an application.